Our issue deals with special education in various countries. Different cultures deal with special education with different programs, organization, and rights. This topic is extremely important to educational reform now, because inclusion is becoming a larger part of the classroom internationally. Schools in Rhode Island and in the United States as a whole have made laws to guarantee education for all, and if special education is required the school must provide it. Some special ed students must have a full day of separate instruction, but many schools are pushing for inclusion. Inclusion is allowing students with special needs to learn with the general population of students. Studies have shown that this pushes these students to learn more and in the future they are more likely to get a job due to their greater skill set. This topic was used in a previous year, and their findings included almost identical topics to ours. The main issues are how many certified special education teachers based on the ratio to students. The ratio cannot be the same as in a general education classroom, because special needs students need more attention, not to mention that those with physical disabilities need at least two people to lift them from one place to another. Of course, physical and mental disabilities require highly trained care, and without the proper staffing this is impossible. I.E.P. plans are drawn up to give students with special needs a learning plan that fits their abilities, in addition to excusing them from things they cannot do. Parents are often annoyed that schools are not understanding of their child's disability, which leads to them having to advocate on behalf of their child. They should not have to do this, because all kids must be given an education with respect for any disability they have. But it is one thing to make a rule, another thing entirely to enforce it. The main difference between the previous year's research and ours is that we looked in our own country and in other countries, while they just looked at special education in the United States. For the other group's research, go to {https://uriteacherknowledge.wikispaces.com/FP+2008+AlysaJessicaEricChelsea} Lead Editor: Rebecca
II. Description of Your Priority for our RI Strategic Plan
Emma Zingg As a group we choose to research what services other countries offered students and how were could use this information to improve Rhode Island in terms of its Special Education programs throughout the state. We decided to turn towards countries that we knew had the strongest educational systems to begin with. This is why we choose Finland and Korea to compare to the United States. We were working to attain insight from researching what other countries did better, or need to do better, in order to understand what the United States and more specifically Rhode Island could improve. Our research allowed us to see a perspective in which we are not aware of otherwise when it comes to Special Education and allows us to be more informed on what Rhode Island could offer its students.
IV. Research Summary
Amanda Ward The first country that we looked at and examined the special education systems offered was the United States. The United states currently offers individual learning plans for students with special needs, the No Child Left Behind plan, and IEPs. Some things that could be reformed in the United States are separating special needs children and regular children and also protecting the rights of special needs students better. The next country that we looked at was South Korea. The South Korean guidelines for special education are influenced by the US and UK models. Less students in South Korea are offered special needs services because it requires them to be separated from other students and classes, leading them to fall behind. South Korea had a serious lack of programs for special needs students and are now improving and offering more programs and a 6-tier system for diagnosing disabilities. The final country that we looked at was Finland. In Finland, students with special needs are put into either general support, enhanced support, or special support systems which vary depending on severeness of struggle. Finland aims at an inclusive schools and classrooms and rarely separate children with special needs from other pupils. Finland is ranked as one of the best school systems in the world.
V. Group Product Overview
Meagan Coon Our groups research revolved around special education in the United States, South Korea and Finland. In our presentation each group member will present the aspect of special education they researched. These include the special education offered in each country and improvements that could be made in each country. We will also discuss which country offers the best forms of special education. We compare the countries and point out specific special education tactics or plans used other places that could be applied to Rhode Island. Each group member will have a few PowerPoint slides to help show their research and we will have an activity during the presentation.
VI. Visual Representation
Baylee DiMarco
VII. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
Halle Goldberg: List your research questions and who is researching this question in this table. When each team member begins their research, you should link each question to its corresponding research page.
VIII. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about the issues related to this priority.
Lead Editor: Julia Cohen
After researching this topic for many weeks and looking deeply into the special education system of many schools in the United States, Finland, and South Korea, our group has come to the conclusion that none of these countries are doing enough to support the needs of special education students. We all agree that although some countries are doing better than others, when it comes down to it, not enough is being done to support these children. Children in special needs programs are not getting the type of one-on-one attention that they need. Our whole group felt that all three countries that we looked at were definitely subject to improvement. Overall, we were all disgusted with how little support special needs students get and how overlooked this problem really is.
We split our task up into pieces, each of us taking research on special education from a different country. One person did “Are special education needs being met in Finland?” while another did “How can we improve special education in Finland?” and so on. The people who researched the United States found that we are somewhat highly ranked on how we treat our special needs students compared to other countries. The real problem in the United States is that we are not focusing on how to help these students as much as how to analyze them and test them. In order to help them, our group thought that it was important to decrease testing and increase learning by one-on-one attention. Finland seemed to our group as they were trying to be at the level of the United States, but mostly just boxed special needs kids in with everyone else and expected them to adapt and learn just like everyone else. Our group thought that Finland really needs to focus on seeing special needs students in a new light and acknowledging the fact that they need a different type of care, attention and learning. South Korea proved to be the worst of all three schools. We found that this country was really only concerned with their elite 5% and did not pay much attention to students with greater needs. Overall, we believe that all of these countries need to pay closer attention to this huge issue. It is not a problem that can or should be overlooked.
Special Education
I. Description of Problem or Issue
Our issue deals with special education in various countries. Different cultures deal with special education with different programs, organization, and rights. This topic is extremely important to educational reform now, because inclusion is becoming a larger part of the classroom internationally. Schools in Rhode Island and in the United States as a whole have made laws to guarantee education for all, and if special education is required the school must provide it. Some special ed students must have a full day of separate instruction, but many schools are pushing for inclusion. Inclusion is allowing students with special needs to learn with the general population of students. Studies have shown that this pushes these students to learn more and in the future they are more likely to get a job due to their greater skill set.This topic was used in a previous year, and their findings included almost identical topics to ours. The main issues are how many certified special education teachers based on the ratio to students. The ratio cannot be the same as in a general education classroom, because special needs students need more attention, not to mention that those with physical disabilities need at least two people to lift them from one place to another. Of course, physical and mental disabilities require highly trained care, and without the proper staffing this is impossible. I.E.P. plans are drawn up to give students with special needs a learning plan that fits their abilities, in addition to excusing them from things they cannot do. Parents are often annoyed that schools are not understanding of their child's disability, which leads to them having to advocate on behalf of their child. They should not have to do this, because all kids must be given an education with respect for any disability they have. But it is one thing to make a rule, another thing entirely to enforce it. The main difference between the previous year's research and ours is that we looked in our own country and in other countries, while they just looked at special education in the United States.
For the other group's research, go to {https://uriteacherknowledge.wikispaces.com/FP+2008+AlysaJessicaEricChelsea}
Lead Editor: Rebecca
II. Description of Your Priority for our RI Strategic Plan
Emma ZinggAs a group we choose to research what services other countries offered students and how were could use this information to improve Rhode Island in terms of its Special Education programs throughout the state. We decided to turn towards countries that we knew had the strongest educational systems to begin with. This is why we choose Finland and Korea to compare to the United States. We were working to attain insight from researching what other countries did better, or need to do better, in order to understand what the United States and more specifically Rhode Island could improve. Our research allowed us to see a perspective in which we are not aware of otherwise when it comes to Special Education and allows us to be more informed on what Rhode Island could offer its students.
IV. Research Summary
Amanda WardThe first country that we looked at and examined the special education systems offered was the United States. The United states currently offers individual learning plans for students with special needs, the No Child Left Behind plan, and IEPs. Some things that could be reformed in the United States are separating special needs children and regular children and also protecting the rights of special needs students better. The next country that we looked at was South Korea. The South Korean guidelines for special education are influenced by the US and UK models. Less students in South Korea are offered special needs services because it requires them to be separated from other students and classes, leading them to fall behind. South Korea had a serious lack of programs for special needs students and are now improving and offering more programs and a 6-tier system for diagnosing disabilities. The final country that we looked at was Finland. In Finland, students with special needs are put into either general support, enhanced support, or special support systems which vary depending on severeness of struggle. Finland aims at an inclusive schools and classrooms and rarely separate children with special needs from other pupils. Finland is ranked as one of the best school systems in the world.
V. Group Product Overview
Meagan CoonOur groups research revolved around special education in the United States, South Korea and Finland. In our presentation each group member will present the aspect of special education they researched. These include the special education offered in each country and improvements that could be made in each country. We will also discuss which country offers the best forms of special education. We compare the countries and point out specific special education tactics or plans used other places that could be applied to Rhode Island. Each group member will have a few PowerPoint slides to help show their research and we will have an activity during the presentation.
VI. Visual Representation
Baylee DiMarcoVII. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
Halle Goldberg:List your research questions and who is researching this question in this table. When each team member begins their research, you should link each question to its corresponding research page.
VIII. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about the issues related to this priority.
Lead Editor: Julia CohenAfter researching this topic for many weeks and looking deeply into the special education system of many schools in the United States, Finland, and South Korea, our group has come to the conclusion that none of these countries are doing enough to support the needs of special education students. We all agree that although some countries are doing better than others, when it comes down to it, not enough is being done to support these children. Children in special needs programs are not getting the type of one-on-one attention that they need. Our whole group felt that all three countries that we looked at were definitely subject to improvement. Overall, we were all disgusted with how little support special needs students get and how overlooked this problem really is.
We split our task up into pieces, each of us taking research on special education from a different country. One person did “Are special education needs being met in Finland?” while another did “How can we improve special education in Finland?” and so on. The people who researched the United States found that we are somewhat highly ranked on how we treat our special needs students compared to other countries. The real problem in the United States is that we are not focusing on how to help these students as much as how to analyze them and test them. In order to help them, our group thought that it was important to decrease testing and increase learning by one-on-one attention. Finland seemed to our group as they were trying to be at the level of the United States, but mostly just boxed special needs kids in with everyone else and expected them to adapt and learn just like everyone else. Our group thought that Finland really needs to focus on seeing special needs students in a new light and acknowledging the fact that they need a different type of care, attention and learning. South Korea proved to be the worst of all three schools. We found that this country was really only concerned with their elite 5% and did not pay much attention to students with greater needs. Overall, we believe that all of these countries need to pay closer attention to this huge issue. It is not a problem that can or should be overlooked.